AN ETHICAL DILEMMA - STEVEN utensils between uses.
Obviously, such
Steven, a junior at Texas University, just started
working part-time at a local fast food restaurant
chain. Although not his dream job, it paid for
tuition and books, and the restaurant gave him
the flexible schedule he needed for school.
After a few months, Steven found he got along
well with all of his co-workers, but it was
apparent they did not respect the company or
the management. The employees made fun of
their bosses and treated the work area like a
playground. In some respects, Steven thought it
was a fun environment to work in, especially
after hours when management was gone for
the day. They played their music loudly,
laughed, and talked with one another during
the down times instead of cleaning up their
work areas like they were supposed to. Despite
the fact there were ethical policies telling
employees how they were expected to act in
the workplace, these policies never seemed to
be enforced.
One day, while working with his co-
worker Julie on the food assembly table, Steven
saw Julie accidentally drop a meat patty on the
floor. Without so much as a flinch, she bent
down, picked up the patty, stuck it back on the
bun, and wrapped it up. It happened so fast
that Steven wasn’t even sure he had seen right
—especially since Julie had done it so casually.
Steven watched in dismay as another worker
took the hamburger out to the customer.
Over the next few weeks, Steven saw
others, including the shift supervisor, do the
same thing with burgers and other products.
Once, an entire cheeseburger hit the greasy
floor, was picked up, and was taken to the
customer. This time the customer complained
the burger tasted funny and sent it back. Steven
noticed other unsanitary practices such as
employees not washing their hands between
handling meat and vegetables and not washing
practices were against company policies and, if
reported, the supervisors in charge could get in
trouble and the restaurant would face
investigations from the health department.
However, there was ample opportunity for
things like this to occur. There was no one
watching them, and the shift supervisor also
engaged in these activities. Steven felt it was
the company’s responsibility to hire good
people, so they were to blame if these things
happened.
One day, Steven approached Julie and
asked, “Why do so many people here serve
food that has fallen on the floor to customers?”
Julie thought about it briefly as though she had
never considered it before and replied, “I guess
it’s because it would take too much time to get
another beef patty out of the freezer, cook it,
and serve it to the customer. This is a fast food
restaurant, after all, and I’m not interested in
hearing customers complain about the time it
takes for them to get their food. Besides, the
restaurants with the fastest service get a bonus
from corporate headquarters. Last year the
supervisors rewarded us with some extra
money for doing our jobs so quickly.”
Steven was somewhat taken aback by
the honest reply and asked, “Wouldn’t you be
disgusted if you were served dirty food at a
restaurant?”
This time Julie’s response was quick.
She said, “What I don’t know won’t hurt me.”
She walked off.
Several weeks went by and the same
practices continued. Steven became more and
more concerned about the consequences that
could happen in an environment so laid back
and unconcerned about safety and health. It
seemed like the more time that passed, the
worse everyone’s attitude became.
 One day, at the beginning of his shift,
Steven noticed the walk-in freezer had been left
open. As he went to shut the door, he
discovered a smell of rotten meat. It almost
made him vomit. “How could this happen?” he
wondered. He threw away the rotten meat
without asking anyone because he was afraid of
what the answer might be.
After Steven threw out the spoiled
meat, he began to wonder how the culture of
the restaurant got to the point of supporting
such practices. He realized the seemingly minor
unsanitary practices allowed major issues to
arise that could possibly hurt someone. Steven
felt he should say or do something, but to
whom? He sat down and pondered what he
should do.